Net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is a global minimum for an effective response to the challenge of climate change. But if the world is going to meet it, at least 75% of known coal reserves can never be mined, or burned to make electricity.
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There is certainly no justification for the development of new coal mines, nor for the building of new coal-fired power stations.
Indeed, there is a particularly urgent need for countries such as Australia, that are still so dependent on the coal industry and on the use of coal to generate electricity, to transition their economy beyond its dependence on coal.
Coal is still our second largest export commodity, and still accounts for some 65% of our electricity generation, with some brown coal fired power plants in Victoria’s La Trobe Valley the dirtiest in the world.
The big miners, such as BHP and Rio, are still wedded to a “dig and ship” business strategy. They enjoy significant and considerable political influence, especially given the significance of the coal industry to particular regions across the country, and therefore to particular constituencies.
It is of particular concern that our governments, both State and Federal, still seek to attract foreign companies to develop new coal mines, as evidenced by Korean owned POSCO’s proposed Hume Coal development here in the Southern Highlands. This still seems likely to go ahead despite overwhelming community opposition.
Governments also still support proposed new mines by Indian owned Adani in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, and by Chinese owned Shenhua Watermark on the Liverpool Plains.
You might ask why new coal projects can be feasible when world coal prices have collapsed by some 70%, world growth is expected to remain weak for a decade or so, and the share prices of coal companies have collapsed by 80-90% as major global investors are divesting from coal. All the while, concern mounts about the risks of a “climate driven” GFC.
Clearly, the politics of coal are not easy, especially post-GFC, where all governments are searching for “jobs and growth”, and where rising electricity prices are a mounting political issue.
For example, coal fired electricity has always been defended as the “cheapest”, and remains in favour, even as we increase reliance on wind and solar. Their intermittent nature leaves consumers paying high prices for peak power, and their emissions reduction advantages are mostly negated by the need for them to be backed up by open-cycle gas or coal fired power, when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.
However, this is no longer the case with the development of affordable storage. This overcomes the problems of intermittency by spreading renewables 24/7, significantly lowering the daily cost of electricity.
I am associated with soon-to-be-implemented Australian technologies that can produce 24/7 base-load solar powered electricity at a price less than coal.
The widespread introduction of such initiatives will revolutionise the whole industry, and lay the basis for a genuine effective, and minimum cost, transition away from coal for power generation.
The only missing ingredient is leadership, especially political leadership!
It is time, indeed beyond time, for our Governments to ban all new coal mines and coal fired power stations, and to facilitate the transition to renewable alternatives.
